Vegan "hot wings" with vegan cool ranch dressing

I have never eaten hot wings, but I saw this recipe for tofu hot wings in the You Won't Believe It's Vegan cookbook and wanted to make them for Matt. I usually don't like hot, spicy food. These turned out wonderful, but it would have been cool if the recipe had us mold the tofu into chicken wing shapes. The cool ranch dip is good with veggies and I can see it working for salads, too.

 Vegan Tofu Hot Wings
Serves 4-6

Hot Wing Sauce
1/4 medium sized red onion, chopped roughly
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (2 tbsp for step 1, 6 tbsp for step 2)
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp hot sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp vegenaise
2 tbsp water
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp sea salt
Pinch of black pepper
1/2 tsp agave nectar (optional)

1. Saute the onion and garlic in 2 tsbp of the olive oil over medium heat until slightly brown at the edges.
2. Transfer to a blender and add the lime juice, hot sauce, mustard, Vegenaise, water, vinegar, salt and pepper. Blend. With machine running, slowly add the remaining 6 tbsp of olive oil.
3. If desired, add 1/2 tsp of agave nectar.

Cool Ranch Dressing
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp roughly chopped white onion
2 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
4 oz tofu, crumbled (I used silken tofu)
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/3 cup Vegenaise
1/2 tsp spike seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash seasoning)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Process all the ingredients except the olive oil in a blender (or food processor) until smooth. With the blender running, slowly blend in the olive oil. Set aside.

Tofu Hot Wings
1 (14 oz) block firm tofu (I used extra firm)
1/2 cup canola oil or other flavorless oil

Dredging mixture
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper

1. Slice the tofu block in half lengthwise, then cut each half into seven sticks.

2. Over medium-high heat, heat the oil in a 9 inch skillet
3. Sift the dredging ingredients into a mixing bowl and toss the tofu gently in the mixture to coat. Shake off excess flour and place into hot oil.

4. Cook until the tofu puffs and crisps, carefully flipping the tofu over with a spatula halfway through the cooking process. Remove the tofu from the pan and drain on paper towels.

5. Toss the tofu in the hot sauce to coat.

To serve: Serve with small bowls of additional hot sauce and cool ranch dressing with some celery sticks.

Vegan philly seitan sandwiches and sweet potato fries

Can you tell that I am obsessed with my mandoline? I am finding recipes that call for sliced stuff. My normal sweet potato fries are more like steak fries, but this time, they were just like the ones you get at Delux or Stax (except baked, not fried)!

My grandma got me a vegan cookbook for my birthday called You Won't Believe It's Not Vegan. And, let me tell you, I can't believe it! Tonight we made philly seitan sandwiches from the book. Next time around, I think I'll swap the nutro cheese for Teese Cheese...then it will be WOW! The sweet potato fries are my old stand-by recipe, but I decided to sprinkle some oregano into the mix for a new taste.

Sweet Potato Fries
1 sweet potato (sliced into straight fries)
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
oregano, salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees
2. Toss the fries in the oil with the oregano, salt and pepper
3. Line up on a non-stick cookie sheet
4.  Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the fries
5. Bake the 2nd side for 10 minutes and watch closely to ensure they don't burn

Nutro Cheese (for topping on the philly seitan sandwich):
Yield 1 pint
2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch cayenne
1/4 tsp dry mustard
3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tbsp tamari
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Warm the oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, turmeric, cayenne and mustard until smooth, then whisk in the soy milk.

2. Add the water and tamari and let cook for 5-8 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the nutritional yeast and let cook, whisking, for another 5 minutes or until the mixture is thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Will keep for 4-5 days refrigerated.

Carmelized onions
1 large yellow onion (thinly-sliced)
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp sea salt

1. Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and salt and cook, stirring often, until they begin to carmelize and turn golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Philly Seitan Sandwich
4 pieces of an italian baguette or 4 pieces of thick loaf bread
2 cups thinly-sliced seitan
1/8 cup tamari
1 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1. pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment

2. Warm the bread in the oven for a minute or two

3. Toss the sliced seitan with the tamari and olive oil. Spread out on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes, or until golden

4. Mix the seitan and carmelized onions together and spread out on the bread

5. Smother with nutro cheese and serve

We took some funny pictures of ourselves tonight, we were both wearing green:

My yellow nails and yellow straw...

We are now watching the remake of Grey Gardens. OMG. The original was jaw-dropping. This one is amazing, too.